The Useless Tree

History

  • Nations Don’t Have Values, People Do

         I linked to this piece a couple of days ago, but now notice that it has caught the attention of some other big sites.  In coming back to it, I see it in a somewhat different light.  … Continue reading

  • China in Three Pictures

         This doesn’t have much to do with ancient Chinese philosophy (though I imagine I could paste on some reference to Taoism somewhere here…) but the idea has been kicking around in my head.      In talking with… Continue reading

  • What Should We Remember?

         A controversy has arisen at my college, one that raises an interesting question (above the din of the usual freedom of speech v. standards of decency thing): what should we remember?      Recent events run something like… Continue reading

  • 5000 Years

        Richard, over at The Peking Duck, has a post today that asks: "A serious question: How many years does Chinese civilization go back, and what criteria are applied to come up with the famous claim of "5,000 years"?" … Continue reading

  • The Zhou and Us

         I am teaching a tutorial this year, the first time I have taken up this kind of class.  A small group of students and I will read and discuss – and they will write about – ancient Chinese… Continue reading

  • Finding the Chinese “Ti” in the Internet “Yong”

         The NYT today has a piece reporting on the big Chinese internet company Tencent, and one of its founders, "Pony" Ma, the power behind the giant mobile instant-messaging service, QQ.  The line that caught my attention was this:… Continue reading

  • Globalization And The Uses Of The Past

        An interesting post over at Diligence China (hat tip, Granite Studio), on the cultural implications of China’s economic rise.  The topic is framed in terms of business culture – or, more specifically, how foreign business people can use… Continue reading

  • What He Said…

         Thanks to Frog in a Well, I had the pleasure of discovering Yu Ying-shih’s acceptance speech for the "Nobel prize for historians."  In it, he emphasizes the recognition of universal humanity in ancient Chinese thought: If history is… Continue reading

  • Nationalism and Culture

         A revealing interview with Wu Jianmin, President of Chinese Foreign Affairs University, in today’s People’s Daily.  The nameless interviewer asks some leading questions: Reporter: Culture is a component of China’s soft power strategy to develop national strength, and… Continue reading

  • Mao is Dead – Again

          Education officials in Shanghai are downgrading the Mao myth in the high school curriculum: When high school students in Shanghai crack their history textbooks this fall they may be in for a surprise. The new standard world history… Continue reading